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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Jonah Peter Chang has joined our little family! He born at 1pm exactly, and weighing 6lbs 7oz. on Thursday, October 22. He came 5 days before his due date. And I'm glad he decided to surprise us!

The whole day was a blur, but I had a feeling he was coming the night before. And I'll share my delivery story later, but it basically was faster than I thought and painful. And the epidural didn't work 100% so you can imagine the pain I felt. Fun times for this first time mom! But thank God it was a smooth delivery without any complications and our little guy is healthy. You can't ask for anything more!

Never in my life would I have imagined my heart grow so much. Who knew that a prayer I had over a year ago would be Jonah and make our life complete. God knew what he was doing making us wait for the perfect little boy. Ralph and I are completely smitten with him and feel so blessed to be the ones chosen to be his parents.

More updates later, but just wanted to let you all know we are all well and settled at home. Stay tuned for more Jonah updates!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Guess what? Jonah is due 6 days from today! Less than a week and I simply cannot believe it. It's all approaching really quickly, but I'm honestly ready to meet him. I feel like I've been pregnant all year, which I technically have, and I just want to love this baby outside the womb already. The waiting game has begun. On my end, they just said he could come soon since I'm thinned out, but no contractions quite yet. He's still comfy in there, but he could come at any moment.

I feel like we've prepared ourselves the best we could, but nothing could really prepare yourself for what's coming. We have all the necessities for a baby, but I'm sure new and unexpected things will come and will have to improvise. I know my marriage will change too, but it's fun and exciting too. We've both never been parents, and taking this big step is quite an adventure.

So what do you do while you wait? You can't really make plans since you have no idea what's going to happen, but I also don't want to be locked up at home. I'm still mobile, and have enough energy to do things, but definitely want to stay local just in case. But til the day comes, we wait!

Monday, October 19, 2015

Last week I shared Jonah's room and all the little details. One of the things I DIYed for his room was his baby air balloon mobile. I found the tutorial through pinterest from a blog called craftinessisnotoptional.com. I knew I didn't want to buy one since I couldn't find what I wanted exactly. So making it just made sense.

The tutorial comes with a lot of pieces but thankfully you can print a template. It's very easy and you can do whatever colors you want!

Once you kind of figure out the template, you can start putting the air balloon together to sew.

I first started sewing the bigger pieces, and outlining it.

Then I added the center piece, and kept adding more stitching to the edges.

Once I was done with both sides, I attatched them together and added the cushion to make it plush. For the exact details, check for tutorial HERE from craftinessisnotoptional.com

As you can see, I added clouds as well! It's simple and really only took me a few hours to complete. And the best part, probably cost me no more than $15.

I hope Jonah loves it, and keeps him mesmerized for days, and nights! Now, we just wait for this kiddo!

Monday, October 12, 2015

Guess what? Jonah's room is ready! Only took me long enough. Everyone thought I would have his room ready months ago, but it just was hard with kitchen renovations going on the whole summer. I'm the type of person that likes to work on one big project at a time. Don't get me wrong, I'm a multitasker by trade, but my preference at home is to finish a room at a time or else I feel like I'm left with multiple giant messes, which drives me crazier and feels overwhelming. But once the kitchen was done, I was on that nursery! I wasn't worried, I knew it would come together.

We had a giant wardrobe in the nursery that my mom wanted and I wanted to get rid of. It was mighty large so it was a bit hard to set the room up with the wardrobe in the way. But finally 2 weeks ago my mom picked it up. I already had the changing table and a dresser for the room, but we recently just got the crib once the wardrobe was out of the way and you'd be surprised what a difference it made and how much easier it made it for me to set the nursery up!

A lot of things we have in the nursery was either given to us, or we owned already. We hardly bought things which was super helpful. I knew I wanted the nursery be more pastel with lots of colors, and different shades of blue. I also knew I wanted an explorer/ adventure theme. Ralph and I love traveling so it's only right to get Jonah to love the thought of adventure.

The bedroom was already this blue/greyish shade. And after all the renovations we had finished, I was in no mood to paint the room when I was more than okay with this shade. It's boyish, neutral, and brightens up the room. For such a small room, I wanted the room to appear light and airy.

Thankfully my sister gave me changing table, I just painted it ombre to change it up a bit. We also started a gallery wall for Jonah's room.

As you can see, maps were my inspiration. I just love the different colors they have and how they all correlate. I'm sure through the months, I will change things here and there but for now I'm happy with the space. I would love a little bookshelf in the space at some point for toy storage and more books, but Jonah isn't in the need for one quite yet.

The room I thought would never come together is finally done. I feel at ease and okay if Jonah were to come any moment. We're ready as we can be.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Let's talk about what should go in your hospital bag. I'm no expert since this is my first go, but I got lots of advice from mommas, and nurses and they helped guide me in what is a must to bring. Some are preferences, but thought this was useful for those as clueless as me.

1. You would think your wallet and phone is a given, you'd be wrong. Some people don't think to bring their wallet but you really should since you need your I.D, and insurance card tend to usually be in there. And as your phone, if you're like me, you need to let family know that you're in labor and for those iphone pictures. And don't forget to take your phone charger!!!

2. Toiletries is a must. I think most hospitals will give you a generic pack, but if you have preferences and just want a touch of home, bring the things you like to use. Deodorant, toothbrush, shampoos, and lip balms. I hear lip balms as a must since hospitals are dry, and I'm prone to chapped lips so I'll be bring that with me for sure.

3. Duh, your hospital bag. It's just easier to carry everything in one place so make sure your bag is roomy. And make sure it's easy access to grabbing it as you head the door or if you know you're due any day, just put it in your car!

4. Nursing bras seems like a great idea especially with all the visitors you'll be getting. And it also seems like a nursing bra is the easiest way to go with pulling and putting the boob away quick. And don't forget to pack comfy undies too!

5. Snacks I think is more of personal preference. Some people have told me to eat before I go since they won't feed when you're in labor until after. Ice chips will be your BFF, but if you need that food, bring light snacks. Pretzels or granola bars may make their way into my bag.

6. If you have a good camera, take it. Might as well be prepared for those cute newborn pictures. If an iphone camera is what you prefer, that's okay too. Just make sure you have enough storage space for all those photos.

7. While you're in the hospital, they will provide little hospital onesies for your little one, but you may want to pack some extra outfits for them. Hospital photographers do come by so you may want to change them into something cuter, and you may also want to take them home in a more peronalized outfit as well.

8. A tablet can be something you can store your labor playlist in, or watch some movies if you're waiting to be dilated further. It's not a bad idea since tablets have so many entertaining things to do on them. Just make sure you have all the things you may need downloaded already in case the hospital has no wifi. Keep that in mind.

9. Comfy clothes for you! (unless you want to be in a hospital gown the whole time.) But most of us want to be in some comfort of our clothes. Just make sure the top is something that can be easy to nurse in. You can bring a robe, some sweats, t-shirts, or whatever is comfiest. Oh, and don't forget slippers or sandals! Oh, and an outfit to go home in too!

The hospital really has most things you need as far as diapers, and baby stuff. They will also feed you afterwards so don't you worry if you forget something. Most of these things are more comfort and personal things we'd like to carry! And one thing I didn't mention because you don't necessarily pack it in your hospital bag but you NEED is a car seat properly installed in your car. They won't let you go home with baby without it. So make sure you have that installed before.

What are some things you packed that were a life saver for you? Let me know, this first time mama likes the extra advice.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Today I'm sharing another House Update! I know, two in a row! If you missed yesterday's, it was an update on our floors in our living space. You can check it out here. Except today's room is a new room I hardly have shared since it's a new space we just started using.

BEFORE

This back room was pretty bad when we moved in. The wall on left hand side actually has a window behind it that we opened up, and the dark color room and green carpet was not the business. The room was an add on someone did prior to us moving and meant to be a family room but it's so far from everything else and kind of small. This room is actually right beside the kitchen and even had a counter bar for the kitchen but it definitely never felt part of the space. It's in the very back of the house, and often would be neglected.

This is how it looked before our kitchen renovation. We never knew what to do with it since it was small carpeted space, so we made it into a library/ living room. I looked nice, except it was never used. The table to the right was my "cake making space" since our counters never were ideal for it. It was definitely a mismatched of things going on.

We felt the space had more potential, and could flow better with the new kitchen. This is the view from the corner back room into the kitchen. Here you can see the kitchen bar and how the space was wasted.

AFTER

And here's the space now! We brightened up the room and actually made it into a eating space. And we also changed the flooring to a grey tile. We still need more small details and decor but so far it's looking way better.

And here you can see how much more open it is to the kitchen. We finally got the table in about a month ago, and it sits 10. I love that we can have larger dinner parties if we wanted to and not worry about space.

I would love to add a buffet to the space too! But for now, I'm happy this space gets used daily!

And don't forget to check out the nursery later this week! Stay tuned!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

It's crunch time here in the Chang house as we have 3 weeks left til Jonah is due. It's all beginning to feel real, and we did major cleaning and setting the house up for this baby's arrival. Thankfully we have no more renovations, but it sure felt like we were going to keep on going until his arrival.

Anyway, today I wanted to share our living space since it's one of the rooms we semi did. And by semi did, I mean we actually just did the floors and got rid of that stinky ol' carpet I hated! It opened up the space and made it more modern.

BEFORE

All the before images are from before we moved in. I sometimes forget how bad it was and like looking back to remind myself how far we've come from this dark space.

AFTER

Here's the our living space now. The decor doesn't look too different from the last time I did the living room update but the floors change the look of the space. I still want to do something with the fireplace, but for now it works.

We went with a dark color floor since I wanted to it to contrast with the white walls we have.

Here's the view from the fireplace point of view and into the foyer far in the back.

Here you can see how the floor flows throughout the room as opposed to the carpet patch we used to have.

And here's the view from the foyer. I love the dark and white contrast we have going on in the living room.

And those stained stairs are still going strong! Remember when I did those way back when?

And guess what? Tomorrow I'll be sharing our dining space and then the nursery! I have a ton of updates to do so stay tuned!